Hello, everyone. American here whose main hobby is making baked goods from around the world. I came across [this recipe](https://youtu.be/PUaruPOcuqQ) on YouTube, and first of all, let me just say that these are the fluffiest donuts I’ve ever had. Delicious. But when I tried looking for other recipes online, it doesn’t seem as popular as I thought. The link calls them kartoffel(n?), the Pennsylvanian Dutch in America call them fasnachts or fastnachts, and some Idahoans back in the ’50s created a brand called Spudnuts but apparently even they got them from an old German recipe. I also came across the word grophen.
Have you ever even had these potato yeast donuts before? And what are they called? How are they commonly prepared? I’ve seen them cut out as little shapes or big fluffy rectangles or typical donut-shaped.
4 comments
While replacing part of the flour with potatos to get an extra soft fluffy dough is not unheard of, it’s not very common practise. Add the fact that donuts are a “very American” food – no, potato donughts are not a thing in Germany.
The look reminds me of Krapfen/Berliner/Pfannkuchen which are quite popular to eat in Germany around new year’s eve and day. You could look up recipes for those and compare if it’s the same thing under a different name.
German here, I’ve never heard about this recipe, but it looks really easy to make and yummie.
We don’t use potatoes in sweet dishes here, mainly in savoury ones and breads. Since you mentioned them also being called “fastnachts”, I supposed it’s a traditional carnival (what Fastnacht means in some regions of Germany) sweet.
I did a little bit of research and found “Bunyols” which are popular on Mallorca, but contain more ingredients than in your recipe – but the base is the same.
Here in Germany, out traditional carnival time sweets are normal jam filled doughnuts and “Mutzen” which is also fried batter with powdered sugar on top.
In Saxony, there is a popular dessert called [Quarkkäulchen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAVjsBKpZrM). The dough contains cooked potatoes, eggs, some flour and a little sugar, just like in the linked video. However, instead of milk and butter they are made with *Quark*, a special kind of fresh cheese.
Most often, they are made without any leavening agent, but there are variations of the recipe that use yeast or baking powder. Optionally, you can add raisins, lemon/orange/lime zest, cinnamon, and/or a splash of rum. Homemade, out of convenience, they are often pan-fried rather than deep-fried; the deep-fried variety is commonly available at Christmas (and other seasonal) markets, or year-round from specialized food trucks, as well as in some restaurants.